Doubled for Monday, March 18, 2024
One picture, one hidden three-word chain. The first two words make a familiar phrase, the last two make another, and the middle word belongs to both. New to the game? Read how to play first.
Hints
Open them one at a time. Each one gives away a little more than the last.
Hint 1
The answer is 5 words long, with 6, 2, 3, 6 and 6 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 6 letters and starts with M.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 4 words, the second is 2, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
A keep-away game, then the school years between elementary and high school.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Monkey In The School
Monkey in the middle and Middle school, joined on Middle.
Monkey in the middle
Monkey in the middle is the children's game in which two players throw a ball over the head of a third, who tries to intercept it.
Middle school
Middle school is the American school for the years between elementary school and high school, roughly ages eleven to fourteen.
How players did
Across 2,742 plays, 39% got the whole answer in one guess, 26% solved it without a miss, 19% got there after at least one wrong guess, 11% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 5% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on March 18, 2024, March 18, 2025 and March 18, 2026.